Idaho

Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP)

Idaho imposes extra restrictions on abortion providers, despite the fact that all health-care providers already must comply with a variety of federal and state regulations governing health, safety, building and fire codes, and zoning requirements.

Restrictions on Where Abortion Services May Be Provided

Among the most common TRAP regulations are those restricting the provision of abortion services to hospitals or other specialized facilities, which require doctors to obtain medically unnecessary additional licenses, needlessly convert their practices to mini-hospitals at great expense, or provide abortion services only in hospitals, an impossibility in many parts of the country.

Idaho has an unconstitutional requirement that all second-trimester abortion services be provided in a hospital. Idaho Code &sect 18-608(2) (Enacted 1973).

The U.S. Supreme Court held that a strict second-trimester hospitalization requirement unconstitutionally burdens a woman's right to choose. Akron v. Akron Ctr. for Reprod. Health, 462 U.S. 416 (1983).

Idaho law also requires that providers have "satisfactory" transfer arrangements with one or more acute-care hospitals within reasonable proximity. The provision makes no exception for clinics in rural areas, or if no local hospitals will agree to a transfer arrangement. Idaho Code &sect 18-608 (1) (Enacted 1973).